THE FEED.
MILES, POINTS, STATUS.

For flights as of September 15, 2026, Lufthansa is charging up to €170 per sector on its retrofitted (non-Allegris) A380 business class to lock in a 'Privacy Seat' (the A and K windows) or an 'Extra Long Bed Seat' (the bulkhead windows with the larger ottoman) in the staggered 1-2-1 Thompson Aero Vantage XL cabin. Miles & More HON Circle and Senator members, plus Business Flex fares, can still assign Privacy Seats free; only HON Circle gets the Extra Long Bed free, and elites on Business Light are not exempt. The fee extends the Allegris seating-fee model to the eight A380s Lufthansa is retrofitting, making the once-standard window row a paid choice.

Vueling's Flex Fare upgrade costs just €15 per person per flight and gives you complete freedom to change dates or cancel with no explanation needed. It's valid on direct Vueling flights for travel between September 15 and December 20, 2026, but you must purchase by August 9 at 7pm EDT. No promo code required, but availability is limited and it cannot be combined with other promotions. Vueling is an ultra-low-cost carrier, so don't expect frills — this is a cheap way to lock in flexibility on a basic European or North African hop.

inKind doubled its referral bonus to $50 per new member who pays a $50+ bill by August 31 — the referred diner also gets $25 off that first check, for a household value of $75 on a $50 meal. Earned credit expires two months out but resets with each new purchase or referral, making active use extendable. The app covers 8,400+ restaurants with variable cash-back rates up to 25%, and payments code as dining for card bonuses.

From 4 Aug to 30 Sep 2026, KrisFlyer members earn 2 miles per S$6 (0.33 mpd) on Singapore Airlines and Scoot flights booked on Expedia's dedicated page, on top of credit card earnings. Travel must be completed by 31 Dec 2026. The catch: Expedia prices may be higher than booking direct, and you lose flexibility on changes. The year-round offers (1 mile per S$6 on flights, 2 miles per S$1 on hotels) are weak. Stack this with a card earning 4 mpd on Expedia, like the DBS Woman's World Card (4 mpd on online spend up to S$1,000/month) or Maybank XL Rewards (4 mpd on travel up to S$1,000/month, but requires S$500 monthly spend and age 21-39).

Aegean Miles+Bonus members can grab 3,000 award miles simply by signing up for the EKO Smile loyalty program through the EKO app with code AEGEAN26 between August 3 and 14, 2026. The miles are award miles, not tier miles, and will credit by September 3, 2026. No purchase or spend required, just a new registration with matching phone and email to your Miles+Bonus account. The app is in Greek, but a translation overlay may work.

Amex and Accor are offering $100 cashback on a single purchase of $500 or more at select Accor luxury hotels, valid through November 2, 2026. That's a 20% effective discount, but the offer excludes prepaid reservations booked online — only direct charges at check-in or post-booking qualify. The offer is targeted and must be added to your enrolled Amex card before spending. Participating brands include Fairmont, Sofitel, and others, but not all Accor properties; check the list at americanexpress.com/accor-luxury-2026. Limit one credit per account.

Hyatt is offering up to five Category 1-4 Free Night Awards for stays at participating Latin America resorts between January 1 and March 31, 2027. Register by September 30, 2026, and earn one FNA per three eligible nights, capped at five. Most participating hotels are all-inclusive, and you can't use these FNAs at them. Their value in North America is limited, so the offer only makes sense if you already have a stay planned and can use the awards elsewhere.

Southwest's latest promotional Companion Pass offer requires registration, then booking a round trip or two one-way flights between August 3–6, 2026, for travel completed by November 18, 2026. Qualifying flights earn a Companion Pass valid January 5–March 3, 2027, letting a designated companion fly for just taxes and fees (from $5.60 each way). Bookings must be new and made after registration; changes after the booking window may void the promotion.

American Airlines is hitting the reset button on lounge economics, with the standard Admirals Club membership jumping to $1,400 (or 140,000 miles) for AAdvantage members starting Aug. 23, up from today's $850 max. The loyalty tier discount is minimal -- Executive Platinum saves only $200 off that top rate. Meanwhile, a new single membership at $750 (75,000 miles) strips guest privileges and partner lounge access, and household memberships are being phased out after Oct. 3. The real power play: the refreshed Citi AAdvantage Executive Card at a $695 annual fee still includes full membership--valued up to $1,400--making it the cheapest gate key by a mile.

TAP Air Portugal's stopover program lets you add Lisbon or Porto (and sometimes Terceira in the Azores) to any cash fare routing through Portugal for up to 10 days at zero additional ticket cost. Available on one-way, round trip, and multi-city bookings, but award tickets are excluded. Booking also unlocks a 25% discount code on a separate TAP domestic flight (routes like Lisbon to Funchal or Faro) valid only during the stopover period. The discount applies to base fare and YQ surcharge only, not taxes.

The new Amex Offer gives $50 back when you spend $250 or more on room rate and room charges at Best Western or SureStay properties in the US and Canada. The threshold counts taxes and other room charges, not just the base rate, which makes this easier to hit than a typical portal bonus. It expires August 31, 2026, and is targeted, so check your Amex offers. If your stay exceeds $500 and you have the offer on multiple household cards, ask the hotel to split payment to stack statement credits. Reservations must be booked via bestwestern.com, the Best Western To Go app, or by phone, and the offer excludes specific properties including WorldHotels.

Southwest's late-summer companion pass promotion is back: register, book one round trip or two one-way flights between August 3 and August 6, 2026, then complete travel by November 18. All fare types qualify, including Basic, and you can book with cash, points, or Cash+Points. After travel, you'll earn a promotional Companion Pass valid January 5 through March 3, 2027, allowing a companion to fly for just taxes and fees starting at $5.60 each way. Beware: changes made after the booking deadline may void eligibility, so avoid modifying reservations.

Bilt's transition from Wells Fargo to Cardless triggered erroneous collection notices for some older accounts issued by Evolve Bank. Cardholders report 60-point credit score drops and accounts sent to Tate & Kirlin Associates despite zero balances. Bilt says it is working with the collection agency and that incorrect credit reporting will be removed within 2-5 business days, but the damage to mortgage approvals is already done for some.

Kenya Airways' Asante Platinum match for all Accor Gold, Platinum, and Diamond members unlocks SkyTeam Elite Plus benefits, including lounge access and SkyPriority, for a $299 fee. Silver (Elite) costs $99 in most regions. The 12-month status is useful if you fly SkyTeam airlines regularly, where extra luggage fees and lounge access can offset the fee. But the program's partner award charts and crediting remain unproven, so this is a short-term status play, not a long-term loyalty move.

This 40% transfer bonus from Citi ThankYou to Turkish Miles&Smiles softens the recent devaluation on United domestic awards. The cap is 50,000 bonus miles, hit by moving 125,000 Citi points. Bonus miles post after campaign ends, earliest September 1. Past bonuses hit 50%, but 40% still makes sense for partners like United or Star Alliance business redemptions.

The refreshed Citi/AAdvantage Executive Mastercard jumps to a $695 annual fee but adds up to $500 in American Airlines Vacations credits, $100 inflight/Admirals Club credit, $180 Lyft credits, Omni Champion Status with a free night, and Avis President's Club. Loyalty Point bonuses double to 40,000, and Admirals Club access remains included, with membership rates rising Aug. 23. The value hinges on actively using the bundled credits; casual flyers may find the perks underutilized.

World of Hyatt is running a dining promotion across Asia Pacific from August 1 through September 30, 2026, offering double points on eligible food and beverage spend at participating Hyatt restaurants and bars without requiring a hotel stay. No registration is needed; just provide your membership number when paying. The points earned are Base Points, meaning they count toward Discoverist, Explorist, Globalist, and Lifetime Globalist status, and elite bonuses stack on top. Minimum spend is $10 per transaction, with a cap of 30,000 bonus points during the period. Note: charging to your hotel room during a stay disqualifies the transaction from this promotion.

GHA's third 2026 D$ sale offers a 15% discount through August 31, but the value is capped because D$1 is always $1 toward hotel rates, with no arbitrage. You earn points only on the post-D$ amount, and D$ expire in 24 months. The source notes that even at 15% off, the deal is not fantastic given frequent double/triple D$ promotions at Titanium level. The only use case is booking flexible rates at properties that accept D$, where you effectively save 15% on the base rate, but taxes/fees still come out of pocket.

The Miles&More 'Bundle' sale is mostly filler: the Avis benefit, Hotels & Cars bonus, and Priority Pass discount are single-use extras bolted onto a miles purchase. The core math: 150,000 miles costs EUR 1,750 (1.17 euro cents each), GBP 1,560 (1.21), or USD 2,090 (1.21) — EUR is the cheapest. But this 50% bonus only applies to first-time bundle buyers; veterans saw 60% in May. At these rates, you're paying well over 1 cent per mile, which only makes sense if you're topping off for a specific redemption, not speculating.

IHG One Rewards is offering a 100% bonus on points purchases through August 17, 2026, dropping the cost to 0.5 cents per point when you buy at least 40,000 points. With a 200,000-point annual purchase cap, you can net 400,000 points for $2,000. But IHG uses fully dynamic pricing, so value varies wildly. The only way to juice this sale is pairing it with a Chase IHG co-branded card for the Fourth Night Free on award stays—that's the move that turns 0.5 cpp into a real discount against cash rates.

From 3 to 31 Aug 2026, booking Pelago activities via Kris+ earns an uncapped 8 KrisFlyer miles per dollar. Pair that with a 4 mpd credit card that codes Pelago correctly — DBS Woman's World (online spending) or Maybank XL Rewards (travel category) — and you hit 12 mpd. But Pelago transactions are coded as MCC 4722 (Travel Agencies), which kills 4 mpd on cards like Citi Rewards, UOB Preferred Visa, and HSBC Revolution. Use the right plastic or you leave 4 mpd on the table.

American Express Platinum members in 12 countries now get Accor Gold status automatically, but the United States is conspicuously absent from the list. Gold brings free Wi-Fi, late checkout, room upgrades subject to availability, and bonus ALL points at Accor's 45+ brands, including luxury properties like Raffles, Fairmont, and Sofitel. Earning Gold the hard way requires 30 elite nights or about €2,800 in spending, so the card-linked match is a genuine perk. US Platinum holders are left with Hilton Gold and Marriott Bonvoy Gold, neither of which delivers consistent breakfast or meaningful upgrades. Accor's thin US footprint and the cost of honoring status matches likely drove the exclusion. The transfer option to ALL points is also not coming to the US, but that's less of a loss — 1,000 ALL points are worth only €20, and typical transfer ratios land near a penny per Membership Rewards point, no better than cashing out via Amex Travel.

WestJet's flight attendant strike as of August 2 has grounded virtually all mainline flights, but Canadian law requires the airline to rebook you on the next available flight, even on another carrier. However, with peak summer travel, finding seats is tough. The government may intervene as it did with Air Canada last year, but no guarantee. Know your rights and options.

Chase Sapphire Lounges will remove Priority Pass access on August 15, 2026, ending a long-running anomaly where non-Chase cardholders could enter via their Priority Pass memberships. Starting that date, only Chase cardholders will have access, and layover guests can stay up to five hours instead of three. If you hold a Priority Pass from any issuer, you have exactly 13 days to use these lounges before they become exclusive to Chase Sapphire Reserve holders.

The August 2026 Flying Blue Promo Rewards are live with 25% off standard award pricing across Air France and KLM, but no Canadian routes are included this round. Premium economy to seven US and Mexico destinations — New York, Washington, San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, Houston, and Mexico City — all price at 30,000 miles each way. Economy from Europe to Phoenix, Seattle, Dallas, Los Angeles, and others goes for 18,750 miles, while short-haul business from Paris or Amsterdam starts at 18,750 miles. Travel is valid through January 31, 2027, including the winter holidays, but you must book by August 31, 2026.

American Express UK is slashing Avios earnings on the British Airways Premium Plus Card by up to 58% on BA and BA Holidays purchases, dropping from 3 Avios to 1.25 Avios per GBP effective October 7, 2026. Regular spend drops from 1.5 to 1.25 Avios per GBP, a 17% cut. The only remaining value is the 2-4-1 Companion Voucher after spending 15,000 GBP, but the card is becoming uncompetitive overall.

Bank of America cardholders can score a $175 statement credit by spending $1,500 within 90 days through the close-card flow in the app or online chat. That's an 11.67% return before normal earnings, which on a Customized Cash card with the 3% online category pushes it to 14.67%. BofA appears to allow one retention offer per cardholder at a time, so target your most valuable card first. The process gives clear warnings before closing, so there's low risk of accidental cancellation.

Bank of America's 100K Flying Blue offer on the Air France/KLM card requires $7,500 spend in 180 days with an $89 annual fee. The 100 XP lands you Flying Blue Silver status, which includes priority check-in, boarding, and an extra checked bag on SkyTeam. That alone makes the card worth considering if you lack SkyTeam status, especially given the 5,000 anniversary points and mileage expiration protection. The normal card is not worth a 5/24 slot, but this bonus is sizeable enough to reconsider, particularly for those over 5/24 or with a specific Flying Blue redemption in mind.